


In Which Arcade Becomes A Dad

by NukaWorldNora



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25631047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NukaWorldNora/pseuds/NukaWorldNora
Summary: This is a gift for itisadragon.tumblr.com as part of the #Celebradiation2020 gift exchange. I was so inspired by their 13yo courier, Sal. Sal uses they/them and she/her, so I will be using both interchangeably. I hope I did them justice!
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ItIsADragon](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=ItIsADragon).



> In this one shot, Sal meets Arcade. He's a prickly bastard, but not so bad.

Sal hadn't really wanted to go to the Old Mormon Fort, but Boone had been really insistent. Something about medical supplies and junk like that. Boring. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw something move and started to see if maybe it was a gecko that wandered too close to the settlement.

"Hey, don't wander off," Boone said.

"Yes, *Dad*," Sal said with a roll of their eyes. They knew why they shouldn't wander off, with little bands of Legionnaires that liked to strike on the outskirts of the Strip. That didn't make any of it any less obnoxious to deal with. They wished they could go chase after the gecko. "Hey wait up a sec. I gotta have some water."

They liked their mask, especially after they traded for some old yellow paint and spent a day painting a bunch of daisies, but it did make it hard to drink from their canteen. By the time they'd gotten the water they wanted and had their mask back in place, they looked around only to find Boone gone.

"Whatever happened to 'don't wander off,'" Sal said to themself with a scoff. They should go see if they could find that gecko, but ultimately they decided against it. They couldn't even be sure it was a gecko, after all. Knowing their luck after the thing with Benny, it would turn out to be a Legionnaire and not a cool animal. Instead, they poked their head into tents until they found Boone.

Instead, they stumbled upon a blond doctor with a bunch of barrel cactus fruit on the table in front of him. They would have just left, but the doctor looked up at them.

"Oh, a kid. How did you get in here?"

"I'm *not* a kid. I'm old enough to be a courier," Sal defended. They had to defend their age so often and it was honestly tiring.

"Right. Do you have a parent I could help you find? Or some kind of adult?" he asked.

"Boone isn't actually my dad, you know," Sal said before they really thought about it. "He's just my friend. But I am trying to find him."

"Uh-huh," the doctor said, almost too dismissively. He gave Sal an odd look. "I could help you with that so you don't get grabbed by Legion slavers. I'm Arcade Gannon; what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Sal."

"Sal? Is that short for Sally, or?"

"Nope! My name is Salamander," they said. "Or well, that's the name I chose. I had a different name in the Legion, but I don't remember what it was." Arcade's eyebrows went up.

"You escaped the Legion?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it if that's okay," they said with a shrug. "I'm going to go find my friend."

"Oh, right." He stood from his chair and looked at the mess on the table. "It's just as well. I'm not getting anywhere in my research." Sal eyed the cactus fruit again.

"What are you researching anyway?" Sal asked, curiosity getting the better of them.

"Oh you know, stimpaks out of barrel cacti and other improbabilities," Arcade said. "It's a noble goal, but it's a waste of time."

"So why do you do the research? If it's a waste of time."

"I'm not exactly a people person. I'm fine with the research Julie gave me to do, even if it is fruitless. No pun intended."

"What's a pun?" Sal asked and frowned when Arcade laughed. They didn't think he was laughing at them, exactly, but they didn't like it. It was like he called them a child again.

Sal left the tent and scrunched up their nose when Arcade followed. He had offered to help, but he was so condescending. Well if he could be condescending, then they could do that too.

"Why the cactus barrel though? Why not xander root and broc flower?" Sal asked in their best attempt at a condescending voice. It was obvious, after all.

"I-m sorry?" Arcade said. "Xander root and broc flower?" Sal looked at Arcade like he was crazy. He had to be messing with them. It had to be condescension or sarcasm.

"Yeah, like. My mom taught me how to make healing powder and it's made with those," they told him. "I think it's an old tribal cure."

"Oh, tribal cures. I've looked into some of those," he said. "It's mostly a bunch of old wives tales and placebo effects." Sal quickly shook their head.

"I dunno about those, but healing powder works," they said. "Couldn't save my eye, but it kept infection from killing me. Stimpaks weren't allowed, so I don't really know how they work, but maybe it might help your research."

"That… helps. I'll look into it. Thank you, Sal," Arcade said. Sal stopped and looked at Arcade. They hadn't expected Arcade to thank them. Maybe he wasn't so bad. He did say that he wasn't good with people. 

"I find 'em a bunch on the road. You can come with me and Boone," they said. "Plus you'd get away from people. Well until I need to get on the Strip, but there probably won't be many plants there anyway."

"What could you possibly want on the Strip? It's kind of a hell hole."

"I'd rather go try to tame a fire gecko, but I wanna find the guy who shot me in Goodsprings," Sal told them.

"What the fuck?"

"I know, right? A gecko that can breathe fire. It's got to be the most badass thing in the Mojave," they said. "Oh hey, there's Boone. Boone!" Sal called out his name and ran over to where he was talking to some lady.

"There you are."

"There *you* are," Sal joked. "This is Arcade. He's coming with us. I mean, oops. You never said yes or no."

Arcade looked at them. It wasn’t condescension, but something close to it in his face but Sal decided that was okay. It reminded them of the face Boone made when they told him why they needed to go to the Strip.

"Yes, I think it would be for the best."

"So yeah, he's coming with us."

Boone nodded. "I'm almost ready to go."

"I like the flowers on your mask," the lady said. Sal grinned at the compliment.

"Thanks! I painted the daisies myself," they said. "I wanted to do more but I ran out of paint."

"My name is Daisy. Must be a sign," she said. "I think I have some paint I can't use in makeup around here somewhere."

"What's makeup?" Sal asked as Daisy rummaged through a nearby crate.

"It's a waste of time and resources," Arcade said. "It's basically face paint that people use to try to make themselves look prettier." Sal scrunches up their nose at that. 

"I don't really care about looking pretty," Sal said. Daisy made a triumphant noise and pulled out two small containers, one red and one yellow, and held them out to them. They'd already used yellow to paint the flowers and they could do details in red or orange now. "Wow, thanks!"

"That's all I have, I think. Unless you're interested in purple hair dye," she said. She probably meant it as a joke, but Sal definitely wanted that exact thing now that they knew it was an option.

"No," Arcade said before Sal could even open their mouth and they scrunched up their nose.

"Yes, *dad*," they said with a roll of their eyes. "But is that really a thing? Can I have weird colored hair?"

"It is a thing you can have if you want," Daisy said. "I have purple because it's leftover from someone else."

"Maybe think about it," Arcade suggested. "If you still want it when we come back, do it then." Sal thought about it. That made sense, and if they waited and thought about it, maybe they could pick a good color. Not that purple wasn't a good color, but they needed to be sure the best color to make their hair.

"Okay, I'll do that," they said. "Now! On to the Strip!"

"Don't forget the 2000 caps we still need to get in," Boone reminded them. Sal scrunched up their nose.

"I'll figure it out."


	2. Additional Drabble #1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I didn't plan on writing this part when I sat down to write the one shot for Sal but dad!Arcade wouldn't leave my brain. So here, a bonus drabble, in which Arcade acts like a dad.

Sal tried to stay strong, certainly since they left the Legion, but definitely since they became The Courier. That meant that crying simply was not an option, at least not publically. They had even told Boone they were incapable in conversation once. That wasn't true, but no one needed to know that. Instead, they waited until they were back at the 38, alone in their room if they needed to. Veronica said that crying could relieve stress, so Sal didn't feel bad that they needed to cry.

There wasn't a specific reason this time. They'd gotten a real bad gash on the leg from a Legionnaire while they were out in the Mojave, but that wasn't it. Maybe it was how easy it might have been for one of the Legion to recognize and grab her if they hadn't had Arcade and Veronica there to back them up. Boone had said it was normal to be afraid of the Legion, especially since they escaped, but he was proud of her for fighting anyway. The exact reason didn't matter much though. All that mattered was today was one of the days they just needed to have that stress relief. She was curled up with a pillow to her face when there was a knock at the door.

"Sal, I wanted to see how that gash on your leg is doing," Arcade called through the door.

"It's fine," they said, hoping they would go away. In truth, it was still tender to the touch but the stimpak has done most of the job and it didn't feel infected, so they decided it was close enough to the truth that they weren’t lying. But instead of going away, Arcade opened the door.

"Are you crying, Sal?"

"No," they lied and buried their face farther into the pillow. It wasn't fair to Arcade since he wasn't anything like her stepfather but they braced themself for harsh words and fists, telling her that they were weak, a waste of food and air. She felt the edge of the bed dip as Arcade sat next to her, and he put an awkward hand on their shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked gently. Sal felt bad for wishing he would go away, for thinking he would be like Legion.

"Stress relief," they said. "Just need to sometimes."

"That's okay," Arcade said. It was dumb, but it really helped. It helped remind them that she was no longer in the Legion. It helped the guilt that burned as she cried, even as they knew she had nothing to feel guilty for. "Do you want me to stay or would you like me to leave?"

"Stay, please," they said. "It helps."

They kept the pillow but scooted closer to Arcade for comfort. Arcade relaxed and the hand on her shoulder felt less awkward.

"Is your leg actually okay?"

"Little sore but no infection."

"Well after this we should get some dinner. Raul made bighorner barbacoa while we were out," Arcade told them.

"Yes, dad." They were even sure whether or not they were being sarcastic.

**Author's Note:**

> It's worth noting that Sal knows what a pun is, at least in concept. I just didn't imagine the Legion would teach literary concepts by name. They aren't stupid, or a little kid but there are gaps in what she knows because of the upbringing.


End file.
